Happy 4th! New Sketchbooks, Zen Doodles and Sketches

 Hope all of you who celebrate July 4th are having a great day! Thankful for the freedoms we stilll have!

I ventured out for a few minutes to stretch my legs and get some fresh air, but it didn't take me long to come back in to the AC, the recliner, and my laptop! Too too hot and humid for old people like me!!!

The 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" sketchbook I've been using was completely filled over the weekend, so instead of finishing up some sketchbooks I have started I broke out the two new ones I ordered recently. One is a Canson XL and one is a Winsor Newton book. Both are white lightly textured mixed media paper, and neither erases pencil marks completely. In fact, if you erase very much the paper fuzzes up and off. I haven't tried paint or wet media, other than markers, yet.

They are the same size paper, 7" x 10", although the WN looks longer and narrower than the Canson. I wanted a little bigger size than I've been using for what I'm doing now. The WN paper is a little thicker and stiffer than the Canson. It's funny that the W/N makes me lean toward horizontal subjects, while the Canson suggests more vertical portrait subject, but I"m sure I'll mix it up in both! Might even add some paint and color!

First page in the Winsor Newton sketchbook is a Zen doodle, which I haven't done in a few weeks. I did it on 6/29 to break the book in, and I used a Zig Writers double tipped marker.

Both books have a slight texture to the paper. I needed some Zen!

Then I returned to character studies and practice July 1. The first page in the Canson sketchbook is this wonderful lady. I got her face and hat too thin and tall, but I still love her. Her glasses are red and purple, and the hat is a fuzzy leopard print bottom with a pink/wht checked chef's hat top. Stablio pencil, and I am tempted to color her in!

I love this lady so much that I tried a second sketch. I haven't finished the patterns on the hat yet, but this one is more the right proportions and expression. I used a mechanical pencil on her.

This lady was showing off her new dog walking hat, and I just had to sketch her! I used a Stablio pencil. I actually sketched her between the other two studies, but they were all three sketched the first two days of July in the new Canson book. It doesn't have as much texture as the W/N.

Back to the W/N July 3. I got the bright idea to try a Zen doodle with the basic lines in chocolate brown Zig Writer marker big tip and the lines between in a brownish pink Zig Writer marker fine tip. It didn't work too well, and I wound up going over the brown thick lines with the big tip of the pink one. Drawing all those lines in between was Zen all right! It reminds me of tree rings, and it's actually upside down, which is why it's signed in the upper right corner. When I started to file it in my photos, I decided it looked better this way. Not my favorite doodle, but I don't hate it, and it served it's purpose!

I also did another character study July 3 in the Canson and touched it up this morning, making areas darker, but I don't have it scanned in yet. I have also sketched another one today, which lacks a bit of touch up. Next post!

Proud of myself for the sketching practice I've accomplished the last few days! It's a good feeling! Stay cool and keep doing what you love!